One of the main reasons I avoided Christianity for years was its portrayal. I, like many others, saw people of God as Bible-thumping critics who were quick to judge the flaws of others. Or I thought they were passive, backward and ignorant. The idea that Christians were pioneers who lived and thought outside the box, behaving in extraordinary ways, never crossed my mind.
I viewed Christianity as lifeless. Becoming a believer would mean losing my individuality and foregoing creativity, excellence, passion and the ability to succeed in the marketplace, sports, politics, education and other arenas of life. I didn’t know it then, but my views were the opposite of how God created us to live because He is the One who breathed into us the desire for the extraordinary.
God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, and, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.” God created human beings; he created them godlike, reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!” (Genesis 1:26–28, The Message)
We were made to reflect God’s nature. He spoke both to men and women, saying, “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!” Adam, the first man, named every species of animal on the earth. God brought the animals to Adam and gave him the responsibility of naming them. There are over one million species of animals on earth. Not only did Adam have the creativity to name them all, but he also had the capacity to remember each one. That was an extraordinary man doing a remarkable feat!
You may ask, “But since Adam fell, weren’t those abilities lost due to his disobedience?” No, Jesus flipped the mess Adam created for humankind. Paul wrote, “Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life!” (Romans 5:18, MSG).
The word life doesn’t merely describe the way we’ll live in heaven; it also means the “here and now.” Jesus not only recovered what Adam lost, but He also provided so much more—the potential of an extraordinary life!
The truth is, God not only desires you to live extraordinarily but also has equipped you to do so.
Marked by boldness and passion, John Bevere delivers uncompromising truth through his award-winning curriculum and best-selling books now available in over sixty languages. His newest book is Extraordinary: The Life You’re Meant to Live. More information is available at www.ExtraordinaryOnline.org.
